MEANWHILE
by ShippuuArashi
Summary: the story of a different team of ninja. many OCs and all the original characters too.first story
1. after the kyuubi attack

* * *

**MEANWHILE.**

Prologue part 1

It was three o clock in the morning in the fire country. Everybody was asleep in their beds, except for the ANBU. Three ANBUs were in the forest on an S-rank mission. Their code names were Bear, Hawk, and Tiger.

The ANBU captain, Bear, was explaining the situation. "Men. Your mission is to search every part of this forest for two runaway ninjas. Their names are Kazemaru and his wife's name is Mizume. They are both S-class criminals. You must kill them or capture them. Be careful out there", he said before they started searching. After ten minutes Hawk spoke through the COM link. "Captain! Their hide out has been found. Awaiting orders", he spoke.

There first orders were to set traps around the hideout so that they couldn't escape. After it was finished they infiltrated the hideout. All three did a camouflage jutsu so they wouldn't be seen. The hideout wasn't a typical hideout. It was just like a normal house (with the exception that it was underground). 'Heh. After we kill them we can watch TV on the couch' Hawk thought to himself.

They sneaked into the bedroom and found Mizume crouched over something, asleep. She had really tight pants on, a ninja vest with no shirt underneath, and her ninja headband around her neck. After a brief scan of the room, they discovered that Kazemaru was nowhere in sight. Bear made a shadow clone and it went over to Mizume and woke her up. Having a ANBU staring at you when you first wake up would scare most people, but Mizume kept quiet. She stood up and made a hush sign at the ANBU and motioned for them to follow her out of the room.

She was unarmed so they kept quiet and followed her. When they got in the living room she performed a soundproofing jutsu on the room before she spoke. "Thank you for being quiet in there", she said and bowed in appreciation. "Mizume. You are under ordered by the Hokage to surrender and come with us to Konoha for your trial", Tiger said. Mizume frowned and said quietly, "I know."

The bathroom door opened and a young man came out. He had baggy pants, no shoes, a baggy shirt, and his headband around his forehead. He was also unarmed. Kazemaru examined his guest. He smiled when he looked at Bear. Kazemaru saw the bear masked man had his headband over his left eye. "Kakashi Hatake. It's been to long", Kazemaru said happily.

Bear took off his ANBU mask revealing the silver haired ninja. "Kazemaru, you are ordered by the Hokage to surrender or die," Kakashi said. Kazemaru stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Same old Kakashi. Always business. Fine. We will go with you", Kazemaru said.

Kakashi was stunned. The Kazemaru he knew would never have given up that easily. "What are you up to Kazemaru", Kakashi asked? Kazemaru went into the kitchen and got a drink. "I'm not planning anything. We were headed to Konoha anyway", Kazemaru explained.

Mizume left the room and came back holding a baby boy. "This is our son", she explained "We named him Shippuu Arashi. We wanted him to have a life in a home instead of on the run. So we decided to come back and beg forgiveness so our son could have a happy childhood".

While Mizume collected all the baby stuff, Kazemaru collected all their personal things and Kakashi read his make-out paradise book.

Hawk was not pleased with this outcome, though. He wanted to come home with Kazemaru and Mizume's dead bodies. They would have given him bragging rights, attention from the girls, and a boost in his pride. Now he would probably be laughed at because he escorted them and their baby. Hell, if they have too much stuff Kakashi would make him help them carry it.

"Are you ready now, honey", Kazemaru asked his wife? "Yes, dear, I'm ready", she answered. They had both gotten dressed and had their packs loaded. Kakashi put up his book and took the baby so Mizume didn't have to carry him. She uttered a thank you and started heading toward Konoha. Kakashi noticed his fellow ANBU staring at him. They were wondering why he was helping her. "She is exhausted if you haven't noticed", he explained.

Now that everyone was ready, they left the hideout and headed for the hidden leaf village, Konoha. As soon as the hideout was out of sight, Mizume remembered something important. "shit" , she screamed and ran back towards the hideout. It was nearly the babies feeding time and she had forgotten the babies formula and she couldn't breast feed in front of four men.

Unfortunately, she didn't remember to tell the ANBU that she forgot it and Hawk thought she was running. He pulled out a kunai and threw it at her back. Before anybody could do any thing about it stabbed her in a vital organ. "NNNNNNNOOOOOOO", Kazemaru screamed while running towards his fallen wife. She was barely alive when he got to her. She was coughing up blood. "sorry, honey, I forgot the babies formula", she said before she took her last breath.

Kazemaru stood up and glared at Hawk. Hawk was starting to regret what he just did. Kazemaru charged at Hawk with unimaginable speed and punched him in the face, sending him flying.

Tiger pulled out a kunai a ran at Kazemaru. He ran right past Hawk who he just noticed had an explosive tag on his face. Then it exploded, and it took Tiger out of the fight.

Just before he had a chance to turn around, Kakashi attacked.

**"LIGHTNING BLADE"**

Kazemaru looked down and saw Kakashi's jutsu had left a hole in him. Kazemaru pulled out a custom made kunai and passed it to Kakashi. "give this to Shippuu when he graduates", Kazemaru begged before he fell to the ground dead.

Kakashi examined the kunai. It had two kanji engraved on each side. Mizu and Kaze. "I'll make sure he gets it, old friend", Kakashi said and went back to Konoha.

_this is my first fan fiction so i welcome constructive criticism. in this fic all attacks will be in english and there wont be any honorifics after names. sorry if i made any mistakes._


	2. during school

Meanwhile 

Prologue part two

EIGHT YEARS LATER Shippuu was wandering around Konoha like he usually did when he was pissed.

flashback

Earlier today he had gone to the towns park to practice some chakra molding techniques Iruka-sensei had taught his class. When he got to the park there were a bunch of boys picking on a girl from his class and he scared them off by transforming into the Hokage with his transformation jutsu.

When he checked to see if the girl was okay, she jumped on him and gave him a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you", she kept saying.

When she finally got off of him they made introductions. "My name is Shiden Raiza. What's yours", she asked? "My name is Shippuu Arashi", he answered. She gave him another hug and said, "Lets be friends Shippuu".

This was one of the happiest moments of Shippuu's life. People in this town didn't like him. They told their children to avoid him. The Hokage had told him that his deceased parents were both most wanted criminals and people disliked him because they figured that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. But now he was about to make friends with this pretty black haired girl.

Right before he could say yes, another girl ran up to them. "Shiden! I couldn't find my dad. Can you help me", she asked. Then she looked over at Shippuu. "Who's this", she asked. "My name's Shippuu Arashi", he answered. He felt great now that he had made his first friend today. The girl introduced herself. "My name is Kuyen Hina".

"KUYEN!", a woman's voice screamed. She turned around to see her mom running towards them. "What do you want mama", she asked? Then her mom pointed towards Shippuu. "What are you doing around this boy. His parents were both murderers. He probably is too", she yelled.

Shippuu didn't know what to say. The Hokage had told him how people felt, but none of them had ever actually said anything to him about it. He looked over to Shiden to she if she knew what to do, but she was just staring at him like he was a murderer covered in blood instead of an eight year old boy. The girls ran away in fear followed by Kuyen's mom. Shippuu cried for a little while but eventually stopped and went for a walk around town.

Flashback end

While walking by the school he saw four boys jumping out of the class window. One was a dark haired boy with a jacket on. Another was a chubby boy with a bag of chips in his hands. The third was a boy with a puppy. The last was a blond boy with whiskers. They looked like they were having fun. Not wanting to spoil their fun, he avoided them.

At the end of the day he ended up at the training grounds. '_today ended like every other day. Me, all alone and friendless'_. For no reason at all he walked into the training ground forest. After he made it half way in, he got lost. "DAMN IT TO HELL", he screamed out loud.

"Damn kid you have a dirty mouth", said a woman's voice from the shadows. Shippuu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pretty purple haired woman in a tan trench coat. "Who are you", he asked. she smiled and said, "My name is Anko Mitarashi. What's yours", she asked? Shippuu looked away and said, "you don't want to know".

Suddenly he was being held up by his shirts collar and had a kunai at his throat. "I asked you a question. That means you answer it", she said with a sadistic grin. "If you really want to know. My name is Shippuu Arashi".

She set him back down on the ground. "See, that wasn't so hard", she said, "why did you come out here? Did your friends dare you to do it?"

Shippuu started to laugh, but it wasn't a happy laugh. Anko was about to smack him when he started to get tears in his eyes. "What's wrong", she asked.

"No one wants to be my friend. My parents were criminals, so other parents tell their kids that I'm a murderer", he said with a depressed tone.

Anko didn't know what to say. She was used to killing people, not cheering them up. Suddenly Shippuu's stomach growled. "Come on kid. I have some food at my place", she said and they headed towards her home.

While feeding him she discovered that Shippuu had a love for teriyaki that rivaled her love for dumplings or Naruto's love for ramen. THREE HOURS LATER.

(during this time, Shippuu tells his life story)

Anko had tucked Shippuu in her bed while he slept. She decided to sleep on the couch. While walking into her living room she notice that a silver haired shinobi was in her house. "What do you want Kakashi", she asked.

"The boy went missing earlier today so me, Iruka, and Asuma went out looking for him. I came to get you and noticed he was here. So here I am wondering why■, he explained.

Anko explained what happened starting after she found him. She explained his reason for being depressed, his encounter with Shiden, she even told about his love of teriyaki. Kakashi thought it was kind of funny. _'That's one trait he got from his dad. He never went on a mission without at least three bags of teriyaki jerky. I think he even had teriyaki chicken for his wedding dinner.'_

"He says his dream is to become the Head of ANBU", Anko said. Kakashi seemed a little confused at this news. "Why does he want that? ANBU are the ones who killed his parents", Kakashi asked. Anko answered, "The reason is that ANBU is the highest rank of ninja, second only to the Hokage. He says that no one would want him as a Hokage, so he chose the next best thing."

The next morning Shippuu woke up to a fog horn in the ear. "aaaaahhhh", he screamed. After the ringing stopped he saw Anko on the floor laughing. When she finally caught her breath she picked him up by the arm and slung him across her shoulder. "okay shrimp. Last night I decided that I would help you train so you can be the next ANBU captain. Fine with you".

Seeing that there was no choice, he agreed. (he would have agreed anyway). After walking for ten minutes, they stopped at a random spot. "Alright kid. Show me how good your taijutsu is", she told him. Before he could even get into a fighting stance, he was tackled, pinned to a tree, and had a kunai at his throat. "I'd say that your skills are below average. We'll work on your martial arts first", she said and set him on the ground.

"Why are you trying to train me", he asked her. She put up her kunai and said, "After you told me about your life, I felt sorry for you." Shippuu felt a little mad at that. He may be alone, but he had his pride. "I don't want or need your pity", he said. She walked over to him and smacked him across the back of his head. "It's not pity, you little brat! I just felt like helping you. I don't feel like doing that a lot, so feel grateful".

From then on Shippuu and Anko trained together. It was during this time that Shippuu learned about his bloodline limit.

After two months of taijutsu training, Anko decided that he was ready for some ninja techniques. Anko got into a battle position and said, "Okay brat. Lets see what you do when I do THIS!"

Out of Anko's trench coat sleeve came a bunch of snakes. **"Striking Shadow Snakes!"**

Anko was not the most observant ninja, but she notice that when Shippuu saw her attack that his eyes flashed for a moment. But he still got hit.

After she let him up, he walked over to a bag of ninja supplies he brought and shoved something up his sleeve. He didn't ask for advice or help or anything. He just silently prepared himself for the next attack.

Anko had gotten used to him not talking much so she spoke instead. "Maybe I moved to ninjutsu to soon. Lets practice taijutsu some more"

Shippuu didn't say anything. He just looked at her with a hint of a smile on his face. _'He's planning something. Otherwise he would be complaining. Oh well'_

Anko charged at him with a kunai in hand just in case he tried to use a weapon against her. Shippuu didn't move until she was four feet in front of him. She pulled back her arm to swing her kunai at him, but he jumped out of the way just in time. Having missed her target, Anko lost her balance and was in a temporary state of vulnerability. While in mid air, Shippuu swung his arm in Anko's direction and wires shot out of his sleeve the same way Anko's snakes did. **"Striking Shadow Wires!"**

Seeing a different, but still very similar, version of her own technique caught Anko off guard. She forgot to block and was tied up by the wires.

After capturing Anko in his new technique, Shippuu showed the first burst of emotion he had had in two months. "YEAH! Hell yeah! I finally beat you, you sadistic bitch." Shippuu looked like he had been titled king of the world.

Anko on the other hand was a dark shade of red from embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had fallen into an eight year olds trap. _'I cant believe I fell for that. How the hell did he copy my attack? It wasn't a complete copy, but it was really damn close.'_

"As soon I get out of this I'm going to kick your ASS!", she screamed. Shippuu stopped congratulating himself and looked at her with an amused grin. "Then I guess I wont let you free", he said and sat down. Anko struggled to get free, but couldn't do it. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get any closer to freedom.

She struggled for ten minutes before swallowing her pride. "I'm sorry for threatening you. Can you please free me", she asked.

Feeling satisfied with today's victory, he let her free.

"how did you do that", she asked.

"do what", he asked back.

"that technique"

"I don't know"

Anko smacked him across the head.  
"what do you mean, you don't know", she screamed.  
"I don't know! I just saw you do it so I did it too. But since I cant summon snakes, I tried it with trap wire", he answered while rubbing the bruise on his head.

_'If she keeps doing that, I'm going to get brain damage'_ "okay, but my question is how you performed it in the first place. I haven't taught it to you".

Shippuu thought about it for a moment, but couldn't figure out how he knew. He saw her do it, so he did it himself by instinct. When he told her, she sent him home and went to talk to the Hokage.

AT THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE

"Lord Hokage, I need to ask you something", she said to the old man. "Okay, but make it quick. It's about time my grandson will appear and attack me".

Anko explained what had happened at training today, but the Hokage didn't seem surprised. "It's just his bloodline limit, Anko, there is no reason to over react", he told her.

Anko wanted more information.  
"What is his trait's ability", she asked. The Hokage inhaled some smoke from his pipe and explained. "Shippuu's blood trait gives him the ability to understand and perform a jutsu after seeing it used. It is similar to the sharingan in a way. Except that its copying ability isn't as strong. It can only copy fifty percent of a technique. This causes him to add his own part to make it complete. Today was a perfect example. He copied how your striking shadow snake works, but couldn't copy it fully. So instead of snakes, he completed the attack using ninja wire. He can also rapidly regenerate his chakra.Understand?"

Anko thanked the Hokage for the information and left. On the way home she thought about if she should still train Shippuu. By the time she reached home she decided to continue training him. Life had become boring lately. This little kid could make it more interesting.

_a/n._

_this was the final part of the prologue. the next chapter is his graduation. by that time he will actually have skills._

_i really really hope all you readers enjoy this. if i forgot to mention it last time, this is my first naruto fanfic._


	3. graduation

**Meanwhile**

Graduating the academy

Four years have passed since Shippuu stared training with Anko. During that time, she has taught him the flicker jutsu, the paralysis jutsu, and how to open the first chakra gate.  
**IN THE FOREST OF DEATH.**

Shippuu was waiting. He didn't know how long it would take, but he knew it wouldn't be much longer. He heard a twig break behind him. A split second later, the whole ground was showered with exploding kunai. Shippuu barely had time to use the flicker jutsu before the kunai exploded. After the smoke cleared, Anko came out of the shadows to retrieve her kunai. As soon as she bent over to pick one up, some wires shot out of the bushes. Anko easily managed to avoid Shippuu's **striking shadow wire** attack, but she knew this was just one of Shippuu's favorite ways to make her lose her temper. Over the years he had caught her with this technique six times and she lost her temper every time.

Anko threw some shurikens in the direction the wires had come from. There was a poof of smoke after wards showing that he had used substitution jutsu to avoid the attack.

This was one of Shippuu and Anko's daily spars. Anko had started doing this with Shippuu so he would learn how to defend himself against other ninja. But as dangerous as the spar was at the moment, they were just warming up. The real fighting wouldn't start until they started using jutsu. Despite the fact that Shippuu was still an academy-nin, he could use high powered jutsu a lot. Early on in their ninjutsu training Shippuu and Anko had learned that Shippuu had unusually rapid chakra regeneration. He could regenerate all of his chakra in ten minutes when it took other ninja a full day to regenerate theirs. The Hokage had explained that this was part of his bloodline limit. Anko had named it the **Hemigan** (half eye) since it let him copy half a technique.

Out of the bushes charged Shippuu holding a kunai, ready to attack. This was a stupid move, but Anko figured that he had just gotten impatient.

She grabbed her own kunai and threw it at him. Instead of missing or striking Shippuu, it went straight through him. _'Oh crap! An illusion clone'_.

As quick as she could she grabbed another kunai, but unfortunately she wasn't fast enough. The real Shippuu jumped out of the bushes behind her and punched her in the back of the head. Before his fist disconnected from her skull, there was a puff of smoke and a log was right where her body was a moment ago.

Shippuu suddenly had a very sharp kunai at his throat. "It looks like you've lost again Shippuu", Anko said with a mocking tone of voice. "Check again", he said. Anko looked down and saw his kunai an inch from her heart.

Anko became a sore loser and whacked him across the head, and then she went away while Shippuu went to school.  
On the way to school he stopped to look at Hokage monument. It appeared that somebody had painted all the faces. Shippuu just ignored it. He knew that who ever had done it would be cleaning it later.

School was annoying that day. Iruka sensei was teaching something that Anko had already taught him and the girl who sits next to him was crying all day. Shippuu raised his hand and asked, "Iruka-sensei, can I move somewhere else? This girl is annoying me".  
Every girl in class looked at him like he was an asshole and the girl next to him stopped crying. "Shippuu, that was very rude. Apologize", Iruka ordered.

"No. I'm trying to pay attention to this boring lesson and I can't hear because of this girl", Shippuu argued.  
"This boring lesson could save your life one day. Chakra molding allows you to perform jutsu, walk on trees, or even the water. If you think that it's boring, then during tomorrow's class, I'll test your skills. If you can't walk up this wall and around the ceiling, then you have to apologize", Iruka said. He knew this challenge would be too hard for a genin to do by himself.

Shippuu sat down and started thinking of how to win Iruka's challenge. While thinking, he heard a sob come from the girl again. He looked over to her to tell her to shut up.

The girl was trying her best to hold in her tears. Instead of shouting, he decided to find out why she was crying. "What wrong with you?" he asked. She let out another sob and answered, "I asked out Sasuke Uchiha today and he turned me down. He said I was annoying".This was the dumbest thing Shippuu had ever heard. "You're trying to become a Kunoichi and you're reduced to tears because you couldn't get a date. Why? Whoever Sasuke is, he can't be that great", Shippuu thought out loud. She looked at him like he was retarded. "How can you not know who Sasuke is? He is the most famous, coolest, and most powerful ninja in Konoha", she stated.

"Whatever. He's probably gay", Shippuu said without thinking. "Sasuke is not gay", she said in a loud voice, "he has his own fan club full of girls." "If he can turn down a beautiful girl like you without thinking and insult you afterwards, he has to be gay", Shippuu told her. He was starting to get bored with this conversation. Talking about some gay guy was not fun.

Suddenly the girl was blushing. "what's wrong now" he asked. "You called me beautiful", she said.  
"I wasn't hitting on you when I said that. I was just stating a fact", he told her. She was still blushing, but she looked very happy now. "Hey Shippuu, Do wanna go out sometime?" she asked.

_ 'A minute ago she was bawling her eyes out and now she's happy and asking me out. Flattery can get you anywhere these days'_, he thought. "I would, seriously. But I don't think I could', he said in a depressed tone.  
She asked, "Why not?"

"Because I don't think your parents would let you go out with me", he answered.  
"I'm sure they would. They approved of Sasuke, so they should approve of you", she told him.

"No. With the exception of the Hokage and Anko, every adult in this village hates me and tells their kids to stay away from me", he explained.

She noticed Shippuu's depressed tone and decided to drop the subject. Shippuu spend the rest of the class thinking about how to win Iruka's challenge, but could figure out how. If he asked for help from Anko, she would ask why he wanted to learn it and after he told her, she would refuse just so he would be humiliated in class.

When Iruka finally released class, the girl next to Shippuu spoke to him again. "You know, I just realized something. We've been sitting next to each other for years and I don't know your last name. And I bet you don't even know my first name." Shippuu didn't deny it. "My last name is Arashi", he told her. She smiled and said, "My name is Kagome. I'll tell you my last name if you go out with me right now." Shippuu opened his mouth to tell her he couldn't again, but she covered his mouth and said, "Your reason only counts if I tell my parents. If I don't, then we could hang out without any complaints. Make sense?" Shippuu thought for a moment and realized she was right. She removed her hand from his mouth and saw that he was smiling. No one had ever seen Shippuu smile at school. (He never had a reason too). "My last name is Imishe", she said while walking out the door.

While Shippuu and Kagome were walking together, they talked about there lives. Shippuu told her about how all the adults of Konoha told their kids that he was a murderer and that it was the reason he had no friends. Kagome was shocked that the villagers would put a child through something like that.

After he finished, they stopped at Ichiraku ramen for something to eat. As soon as they got there they saw Iruka and a short kid dressed in orange leaving. They stepped into Ichiraku's and ordered. Kagome ordered a bowl of miso shrimp ramen and Shippuu ordered a bowl of teriyaki beef flavored ramen. While they ate, Shippuu noticed it getting dark. "I'll take you home before I meet with Anko", he told her and paid for their meal.

When they arrived at Kagome's house, she tried to give him a good bye kiss. Unfortunately, as soon as she tried, her dad came running out the door swinging a katana in Shippuu's direction. Shippuu barely was able to dodge it before he got cut in two.

"Daddy, what the hell is wrong with you", Kagome screamed. "What do you mean what's wrong with me? Why the hell are you with this kid", he asked/screamed?  
"We were just hanging out. He's my friend."

"He's a murderer!"

"No he's not!"

"Yes he is. And he hangs out with that psycho snake bitch!"

"What did you call me", asked a voice from the shadows. Kagome's dad froze in place and looked very very very scared. Out of the shadows came Anko.

"What the hell are you doing here Anko", Shippuu asked. She grabbed the katana from Kagome's dad and said, "I was wondering why you were late for training. And when I found you, you were on a date with this little girl. So I decided to watch." Anko passed the sword to Shippuu and told Kagome's dad, "Since you don't seem to be able to wield this sword properly, I'm giving it to Shippuu. Got a problem with it?" The dad scowled at Anko and said, "Take it. I don't want it after you've touched it." Anko smiled and thought, _'I like how this guy thinks'_. She walked past the dad and started touching his house. Kagome's dad lost his temper again. "Get Away From My House and Take Your Little Hell Spawn with You!" he screamed.

Shippuu started walking away and heard Kagome shout, "see you at graduation tomorrow Shippuu."

"So kid. How was your first date", Anko asked? "I'll tell you some other time. Right now I have to practice something", he told her. She grabbed onto his shoulder and said, "Sorry kid, but you have to train with me. Iruka's challenge can wait."

"No it can't. And how did you hear about that? I never told you", he asked?

"Iruka told me. He said that under no circumstances am I to help you", she told him.  
"Then I have to do it on my own", he said and tried to walk away again. Anko whacked him across the head (again). "I just got you a nice sword. The least you can do is train with me ya little brat", she ordered. Then she grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him to the training ground.

By the time they made it there, Shippuu had stopped trying to resist. "Okay squirt, lets see how you fight against a summon." she had Shippuu's attention after the summon was mentioned.

After he defeated the snake, he became very interested in learning how to summon.

"Teach me how to summon", he demanded.  
Anko was going to smack him again, but then she thought of a way to get a little amusement out of the situation.

"First you have to draw some of your blood", she explained, "next you make these four hand signs and you pump a lot of chakra into it." Anko had purposely left out the part about signing a contract. "Any competent ninja can summon an animal. I'll leave you alone to try it", she said and walked off. She knew that without signing a contract, he shouldn't be able to summon a thing. So he would end up getting pissed since he didn't know why nothing was happening.

After Anko left, Shippuu used his katana to cut his thumb. Then he performed the hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground. Suddenly there was a big poof and a golden cat was standing in front of him. It had a Konoha headband around its neck and a sheathed tanto dagger on its back.

"Hello. My name is Kinneko (gold cat)", it said in a surprisingly human voice. Shippuu was speechless for a moment. "How did I summon you", he asked? He thought that he was summoning a snake, like anko did. Kinneko misunderstood the question. He thought Shippuu was wondering about having no contract.

"You were able to summon me because your parents signed your name on the cat contract two months after you were born", Kinneko explained. '_Contract? What is he talking about?'_ Shippuu wondered. Then he figured it out. '_I am going to make Anko pay for trying to pull a stunt like that'_ "So what exactly do you do", he asked Kinneko. "I am an extraordinary strategist" , Kinneko bragged, "I can help you with any thing you need".

"Okay then, can you teach me how to walk on walls and ceilings", he asked. Kinneko smiled and agreed. And they trained the rest of the night.

NEXT MORNING AT SCHOOL.

The first thing Iruka did that morning was ask Shippuu if he was ready to apologize. Shippuu stood up and walked to the front of the class. Then he walked up the wall, then the ceiling, and down the opposite wall, and sat down at his desk next to Kagome.  
Iruka was stunned. _'How did he learn that in one night without Anko's help'_, he wondered. "Who helped you learn how to do that, Shippuu", he asked? "My cat", was all that Shippuu said before he fell asleep.

After two hours of sleep, Kagome woke him up. "Shippuu wake up. You have to take your genin exam", she said. So he got up and went into the testing room. The teachers ordered him to make three normal clones. After he did, they gave him his own leaf headband and said he could go home. Instead, he just went to the roof and slept until nightfall.  
When he woke up, he realized that if he missed practice with Anko, she would hunt him down again. After he ate a quick meal at Ichiraku's, he headed to the training ground.

Halfway into the forest, he saw the school teacher Mizuki attacking Iruka. Shippuu was about to run out and help Iruka until the orange dressed kid jumped out of the bushes holding an enormous scroll. The kid performed a jutsu that created hundreds of full body clones (multi shadow clone jutsu). He used his Hemigan on the jutsu and watched Mizuki get beat up. (He never liked Mizuki anyway). Then he went to training.

The next day, after he got his ninja from the Hokage, he received a kunai from Anko. She said it was a gift from his parents.  
The rest of the time was spent making his own version of the shadow clone jutsu. At first he couldn't get them to solidify until Kinneko told him to try and make them from something besides thin air. After thinking about it for a while he tried to make clones from the static in the air and it worked. Later that night he used his new jutsu on Anko and discovered that if anyone came in contact with one of his clones, they received an electric shock strong enough to make their body go numb.

After a very good nights sleep, he was told to go to the academy. He put on his headband around his neck and summoned Kinneko to bring with him and strapped his sword across his back.

When he arrived at school he noticed a lot of people staring at his sword and cat. All the looks Kinneko was getting were making him nervous. His tail kept moving to his tanto's handle, just in case someone jumped up to grab him.  
Shippuu calmed Kinneko down and sat next to Kagome. Unfortunately, Kagome told him that her parents had forbidden her from hanging out with him and she moved to a different spot. Shippuu was upset about it, but he had seen it coming.  
After ten minutes had passed, Iruka finally showed up. "Class. All of you are now officially ninja now. But you are only genin, the lowest level of ninja. You will each be put into three man squads and be assigned a Jounin sensei. I will now assign your teams", Iruka announced.

Shippuu kept zoning out until Kinneko told him to pay attention. "Team five will be Shippuu Arashi, Kuyen Hina, and Shiden Raiza." Those names sounded disturbingly familiar to Shippuu. Then he remembered the incident that had happened four years ago. He slammed his head on the desk and uttered "damn it" a little louder then he meant too.


	4. genin exams

Test of power

_ 'Why? Why am I teamed up with them? I've seen what they can do and it's not that impressive',_ Shippuu mentally complained. Kinneko noticed the look on Shippuu's face and tried to cheer him up. "It can't be that bad. Think of it this way. You have two females to yourself with no competition", Kinneko said.

"I don't care, Kinneko. If they're not strong enough, then all of our lives will be in danger. I'd rather stay alive than have either of those two as a girlfriend", Shippuu stated.

After about twenty minutes had passed, their sensei had finally shown up. He had brown hair like Kuyen and he had tattoos' all over his face. He didn't say any thing, he just pointed out the window to a roof with a bench on it. (The place where Shikamaru watches clouds).

After that, he used a **flicker jutsu **to transport himself there. Since Shippuu could use flicker also, he appeared there right after the sensei did and sat on the edge of the building. After ten minutes had passed, Kuyen and Shiden made it to the roof.

The sensei stared at his students and told them to tell there names, likes, dislikes, specialties, and dreams. "Why don't you go first", Shippuu said. The sensei grunted and said, "My name is Enryuu Hina. My likes are napping, bonfires, and my job. My dislikes are the cold, winter, and being forced to take students to teach. My specialty is fire jutsu's. My bloodline allows me to perform them without using chakra. My dream is for you three to quit being ninja or to become Jounin quickly so I can get back to my job as a ninja".

He pointed at Kuyen and she said, "My name is Kuyen Hina. My likes are bonfires, attractive boys, and my friend. My dislikes are my dad, (Enryuu), when he's being mean, and winter. My specialty is fire jutsu, but I'm not as good as my dad. My dream is to meet a nice, pretty guy to marry and become a Jounin".

Enryuu pointed at Shiden next. She stood up and said, "My name is Shiden Raiza. My likes are my friends, my family, and my village. My dislikes are war, battle crazy people, and perverts. I specialize in ninjutsu and traps. My dream is to become a Jounin so I can protect everything I like".

They all looked at Shippuu and Kinneko next. Shippuu didn't even look at them but he still said, "My name is Shippuu Arashi. My likes are my cat, Kinneko, my trainer, Anko, and the third Hokage. I have many dislikes, but my main one is people who judge other people by what there family did and not what they did. My specialty is taijutsu and ninjutsu. My goal is to become the head of the ANBU black ops".

Enryuu would never admit it out loud, but he liked Shippuu more than Shiden and his daughter, Kuyen (as ninja material, not as a child) , at that moment. He was the only one who seemed devoted. Kuyen barely seemed to care about being a ninja. Shiden looked like she kind of cared, but would probably quit once it got to dangerous.

"Tomorrow, all three of you need to come to Training ground 5 at seven' o clock. Come prepared to fight for your lives", Enryuu ordered before disappearing with a **flicker jutsu**.

Shippuu picked up Kinneko and walked towards the ramen stand since it was all he could afford. About halfway there he was stopped by his teammates. "Hey Shippuu, do you want to hang out. Since we're going to be on a team, we should get to know each other", Kuyen said.

"Sorry, but after I'm done eating, me and Kinneko are going to train. You two should do the same since we're most likely getting tested tomorrow", he said and headed towards the ramen stand for some teriyaki ramen.

Unsurprisingly, his teammates didn't show up. Shippuu headed towards the center of the woods to train. Halfway to his training spot, he heard yelling and barking. He knew there were no dogs or wolves in the forest, so he went to investigate. When Kinneko realized they were heading towards the barking instead of away from it, he jumped up onto the tree branches for safety. "Guess you don't like dogs much do ya, Kinneko", Shippuu joked.

"Come on, Akamaru. I know you can do better than that", said an incredibly dirty boy wearing an enormous coat. The dog he was talking to just yapped in response. "What are you doing here", Shippuu asked out loud. The boy and his dog looked at them, annoyed. "I thought I smelled a cat", he muttered and then yelled; "I'm training. Do ya have a problem with it"?

Shippuu mentally laughed at the boy. Something about him just seemed funny. "If you want to train, then how about you spar with me", he said. The dog boy smiled at the thought of a fight. "Fine with me", he yelled right before charging. Shippuu easily dodged the boy by jumping into the trees.

Shippuu pulled out his Kaze Mizu kunai and tried to stab the boy in the shoulder. The boy barely managed to dodge. Dog boy made a few hand signs and shouted

Chakra shot from the kid's shoulders and knee joints. Then he got on all fours and charged. Dog boy was much faster now. He was so fast that he managed to punch Shippuu in the face before he had a chance to dodge.

Shippuu used **substitution jutsu** before dog boy could land another hit. "Nice move dog boy", Shippuu said from the branch of the tree above dog boy. "The name is Kiba Inuzuka. Remember it", he yelled and threw some shuriken. Before Shippuu dodged the shuriken, he used his Hemigan on Kiba's jutsu.

After Shippuu had put some distance between him and Kiba, he started working on a way to complete the incomplete four legged jutsu. He tried to perform the jutsu, but it didn't fully change his joints. Instead of changing his joints enough to make his normal stance on all fours, they only changed enough to make his normal stance look like he was crouched. It made him faster and stronger, but not as much as Kiba's jutsu did. An idea came to him that he could add a transformation to the jutsu to intimidate opponents.

By the time he mastered his new jutsu, Kiba had caught up. "You can't run away from me, cat boy", he yelled.

Shippuu made some hand signs and yelled out **"Demon form jutsu"**. Chakra shot out of Shippuu's limbs and bent his bones. Then a pair of ram horns grew out of his skull, his eyes slit, his teeth became fangs, he grew a dragon tail, and a pair of skeleton wings popped out of his back.

Kiba was so surprised that he lost his balance while running and fell, but he didn't hit the ground because Shippuu punched him with his new strength, sending Kiba flying into a tree. "The name is Shippuu Arashi. Remember it", he said and dispelled his jutsu.

"How did you do that", Kiba asked while Shippuu was helping back to his feet? Shippuu explained his bloodline to the dog ninja. "You're not that bad. If you every need a sparring partner, then come find me and Akamaru. I'll be prepared for your surprises next time", he said before he and Akamaru walked back towards town.

Shippuu checked the sky and saw the sun setting. He grabbed Kinneko and headed home. When he got home, he set his sword on the shelf and his Kaze Mizu kunai on the nightstand. After a quick shower, he and Kinneko went to bed.

The next morning came really quick. Shippuu put on a baggy brown shirt, baggy brown pants, and an emerald green, musketeer style tunic (Anko gave him this outfit so he could have some camouflage on missions) and tied his head band around his neck. Next he strapped his sword to his back, put on his belt with a pouch to hold scrolls, kunai, and shuriken, and tied a special pouch to his ankle to hold his Kaze Mizu kunai. Then he put on his ninja sandals, woke up Kinneko, and left for training ground five.

When he arrived he noticed his teammates were already there. Kuyen was wearing standard ninja sandals, a (kind of) baggy long sleeved brown shirt, and a brown skirt that reached her knees. She was wearing her head band around her forehead like Enryuu did. She didn't appear to be carrying any weapons.

Shiden, on the other hand, was wearing standard kunoichi shorts, ninja sandals, a long sleeved, blue shirt, and three pouches of ninja weaponry. She wore her headband on her head, holding her hair back (like Sakura does). She looked the more prepared of the two.

"Why are you two here so early", he asked them? "We could ask you the same question", Kuyen said with an irritated tone. "Not really. You two look as if you've been here for a while. I just got here", he said before find a place to sit.

After waiting for three hours, Shippuu was about to leave. The other two looked like they wanted to leave also, but didn't want to be the first to quit. "Want to head home, Kinneko? It doesn't look like he's gonna show up."

Kinneko kept sunbathing and said, "He'll show up right after you leave". Shippuu chuckled and said, "Yeah, that's how the world seems to work, doesn't it". Kinneko looked up at him and said, "No, I mean he is waiting for one of you to leave. He's hiding in that tree over there. He's testing your patience".

At first Shippuu was mad at Enryuu, but then he realized how clever the test was. If he wanted to continue with the other test Enryuu had planned for them, he would have to walk off. But if he did, he would fail the patience test. _'I'm going to have to trick one of them into leaving'_, he thought.

"Do either of you two want something to eat", he asked? His teammates looked stunned. They didn't think Shippuu was the kind of guy who did favors for others. "Why? What would you want in return", Kuyen asked suspiciously.

"I don't want anything. I just thought that if you two wanted something to eat, I'd go get you something", he said as convincingly as he could.

"How do we know you wont just use that as an excuse so you can go hang out with your friends", she asked?

"Why would you ever think that? I would never do that to my new teammates", he reassured her, unconvincingly (he hoped).

Kuyen stood up. "No thanks. I'll go get my own food", he said, "Do you want anything Shiden"

Shiden didn't say anything. She just stared off into space. "Fine then, I won't get you anything", Kuyen said and started walking towards town.

Suddenly Enryuu was standing in the center of the three. "Three hours and ten minutes", Enryuu said, "Although you didn't break the record, you three lasted longer than I thought you would".

The two kunoichi stared at Enryuu trying to figure out what he was talking about. After they did, Kuyen got upset about it. "You tricked me!" she screamed at Shippuu. He laughed and said, "Yeah. It was easier than I thought it would be".

Before his daughter could attack her teammate, Enryuu spoke up. "Now it's time for the real test.", he said and pulled out two bells. "You three have two hours to take these bells from me."

"But sensei, there are only two bells." Shiden noted. Enryuu cleared his throat and spoke again. "That is correct. Only two of you will pass this test. The third will be tied to a post for the rest of the day and then be sent back to the academy".

The two girls were shocked by this news, but Shippuu was only thinking about which girl he'd give the second bell too. As long as he had Kinneko, an experienced strategist, to help him he would be guaranteed victory. Right before Enryuu disappeared, he shout "BEGIN"!

All three of them went a different direction to find Enryuu. "So what's the plan, Kinneko?", Shippuu asked. "Your on your own", the cat yawned.

"What do you mean, I'm on my own? You said you'd help me if I ever needed it", Shippuu almost yelled. "this is a test for you to figure out on your own. If you cant do it, then even I wont be able to help you later on. You need to be able to function without help, because one day you will inevitably be without it", the cat said explained, "But if you can figure out the true meaning of this test, then I will offer a little bit of help".

At first Shippuu couldn't believe he'd been abandoned by his cat. But he understood what the cat was talking about. He had only known Kinneko for a few days and he already relied on him to much. _'But what did Kinneko mean about the true meaning of the test' _, Shippuu wondered.

Shippuu sat down and analyzed his situation. He had to get a bell from a high level Jounin without help from both of his teammates. But they were more likely to work with each other than fight over who got to team up with him. What he didn't understand was why there were only two bells.

'Why would they teach us how to be ninja if they are going to fail one third of the students'

Soon Shippuu remembered the patience test they were given. They had passed it by doing something they weren't supposed to do. Maybe it worked that way in this test also.

Shippuu ran off to find Kuyen and Shiden as fast as he could. After ten minutes of running, he still couldn't find them. He was about to give up looking for them for a while when he had an idea. "Kinneko, you said that you were the cat clan strategist. Is there a tracker cat in your clan?", he asked the cat. "Yes there is. I actually hadn't thought about help from another cat. Try and summon one.", the cat suggested.

Shippuu pulled out his water wind kunai. (Mizu Kaze). And cut his thumb. He made the hand signs and slammed his hand into a tree. There was a big puff of smoke the revealed a silver kitten standing by his foot. "Hello. My name is Ginneko (silver cat). How may I help you", he asked.

Shippuu examined the pure silver colored kitten and wondered how a four inch tall kitten could be a tracker. "Um. Are you any good at tracking people?", he asked Ginneko.

The kitten purred. "Of course. I am the best tracker/scout in the cat clan", he boasted, "tell me what they look like and I'll find them".

Choosing to go on faith, Shippuu described his teammates. As soon as he was done speaking, the kitten went searching for them. After five minutes of waiting, Ginneko came back screaming, "I found them. Follow me!"

Him and Kinneko followed Ginneko to the spot his teammate were resting. They looked like they had already tried to beat Enryuu. "Are you two ok?", he asked, genuinely concerned. They were both bruised in various places, Shiden looked like she had taken a blow to the stomach, and Kuyen looked like she couldn't sit down anymore.

"What do you want?", Kuyen asked, voice full of hostility. "I came to ask for you two's help", he answered.

"Why? So you can take one for yourself and send me or Kuyen back to the academy? We'll pass", Shiden yelled.

_ 'And here I thought that Shiden was the quiet one'_, he thought to himself. "No. you two can have the bells.", he said. They both stared at him. "Your going to give us the bells and go back to the academy?", they asked.

"Don't you two get it", he asked, "This test is meant to trick you into abandoning your teammates. It's to see if you can over come your own interests in exchange for the teams interests. If we work together, we'll pass."

Shiden looked slightly convinced, but Kuyen had one last question. "What if you're wrong", she asked. He looked directly into her eyes so she could see he wasn't lying. "In that case. I'll go back to the academy and you two will become full fledged ninjas. In six months I'd be on a different team with more experience to help me pass the next exam. It's not like this is the team I wanted anyway", he answered.

They both believed him now and agreed to help him. Without Kinneko's help, the three came up with a plan.

**thirty minutes left**

_ 'I wonder if they gave up? if they did, then I could go back to being a jounin that goes on S-rank missions. i don't want to train these three. it would be a pain. maybe I'll take a nap. its so peaceful right now. the sun is shining, the grass is green, and the air is filled with sleeping powder. Wait...What!_

Enryuu snapped out of his day dream and performed a jutsu to blow all the powder away. **"wind style: vicious gust jutsu"**, he yelled right before a ridiculously strong wind blew the powder away. Next, a swarm of exploding kunai filled the air. Enryuu made more hand signs and shouted, **"earth style: mud wall jutsu"**. dirt shot out of the ground making a wall the kunai couldn't break through.

He turned around and saw Shippuu charging at him. Shippuu made a hand sign that looked a lot like the cross hand sign used to make shadow clones, but this hand sign seemed a little…jagged. Shippuu yelled out, **"Lightning clone jutsu"**, and two more Shippuu's cackled into existence. The main Shippuu stopped running, but the clones still charged. With one hand, Enryuu batted them out of existence.

_ 'part one complete'_, Shippuu thought to himself, smugly. Enryuu was about to make more hand signs when he realized his left arm was completely numb.

"Shiden, your turn", Shippuu yelled into the woods. Shiden ran out of the woods and made some hand signs of her own. **"illusionary art: earth destruction jutsu"**, she yelled.

Suddenly the sky turned red, the grass burned, and the earth cracked. Meteors started falling from the sky. _'Heh. A genjutsu. It looks pretty realistic, but this cant harm me'_, Enryuu thought to himself. Shippuu and Shiden screamed, "Kuyen, attack!"

Enryuu let out a string of curse words when he realized their plan.

' _first they distract me and paralyze one or both of my arms, then they cast a genjutsu and make it look like fire is flying everywhere, and last they use fire jutsu and i wont be able to tell the real fire from the fake'._

Enryuu, unfortunately for the genin, wasn't going to quit. He had an original jutsu that would work perfectly in this situation. Enryuu held out his right arm and used his fire blood limit to call Kuyen's flames to him. All the real fire went to his hand and formed a fire ball. Since Shippuu seemed to be the mastermind of this plan, he became Enryuu's target.

Enryuu charged at Shippuu to take him out. Shippuu knew he couldn't avoid this attack, so he raised his sword to block. Enryuu thrust his fire ball and screamed. "**Nova Burst!"**

* * *

Shippuu was sent flying through the forest. The little baseball sized fireball had had more explosive power in it than a grenade. He finally stopped flying when he crashed into a tree. On top of the incredible amount of pain he was feeling, he noticed that Enryuu's Nova Burst had broken his sword. 

After he had gathered enough energy to stand up, he headed back to the battleground.

Despite having Shippuu blasted halfway across the training ground, Kuyen and Shiden were still trying to get the bells. And they were failing. although Shippuu was in pain, he decided to attack one last time.

He made his jagged cross handsign and created eight lightning clones. _'now for the final touch'._ his clones made a series of handsigns and shouted, "**Demon Form Jutsu"! **All of them grew demonic horns, wings, and claws. "Charge"!

(enryuu's p.o.v.)

Now that Shippuu was no longer fighting with them, the two girls started repeating the tricks they used the first time they attacked Enryuu. _'How much longer until this stupid test is over. they obviously arent going to pass, so why bother continueing. that boy shippuu was the only challenge', _enryuu thought to himself while deflecting the kunoichi's attacks.

after throwing Kuyen and Shiden to the ground again, he heard a roar behind him. he turned around to see eight demon shippuu's charging at him. but he destroyed them all with a fire jutsu before they reached him. Suddenly he was tackled from behind by the real Shippuu. he was now lying on the ground with shippuu on top of him holding waterwind to Enryuu's throat. at first he thought that shippuu was about to kill him until Shippuu passed out. Enryuu pushed Shippuu off of him and checked his watch. "Times up and you all fail", Enryuu said with a big smile.

The reaction he saw from the girl wasnt what he expected. the girls were smiling back at him. "What are you two so happy about"? he asked. they both stretched out there arms and opened there hands to reveal a bell in each of there hands. "HOW DID YOU GET THOSE BELLS", he screamed.

"Shippuu gave them to us. when he tackled you he grabbed them and tossed them to us before he put his kunai to your throat" shiden explained.

Enryuu stood there amazed. An orphan whose grades were average in the academy had figured out the meaning to this test. if he hadnt then he never would have worked with the girls or given them the bells. just to be sure he asked the the girls and they both told him that his theory was correct.

"Thanks to Shippuu, all three of you pass the test. before you go off and celebrate i want you to know that i will not take it easy on any of you. your training will be tough and each day after training you will barely have enough energy to walk home". Enryuu told them. as soon as he finished talking he looked at Shippuu on the ground and realised that they had better take him to the hospital before he dies.


End file.
